


Road Trippin'

by idra



Series: 30 Days of Fic (June 2015) [29]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-04-07 01:23:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4244220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idra/pseuds/idra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve takes Tony on a road trip.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Day 29. I had far too many ideas for this to actually leave it where I left it, but I need to write my last fic before the day ends or before I fall asleep at the keyboard. So this will be multi-chaptered, eventually.

Steve looks over at Tony, one eyebrow raised. "Get on the back of the bike, Stark. You wanted to know what it was like to ride my bike, so let's go."

"Where are we going? And I never said I wanted to ride your bike." Tony blinks, stopping himself from saying that what he'd actually said was he wanted to ride Steve.

"Just get on the back of the bike, Stark. I've got stuff packed for both of us and you promised to show me around California."

"Uh, Capsicle, I'm not riding on the back of your motorcycle to California!" 

"Yes, you are." Steve smiles. "I already cleared your schedule with Pepper. Fury and the rest of the team knows we're going to be off the grid for a few weeks." Steve reaches over and puts a helmet on Tony's head, painted in Iron Man gold and red. "There. You have your Stark Tech in your pack. JARVIS is in your helmet. And I've got my shield and we're ready to go. So get on the bike, Stark. Let's go explore the country."

Tony bites his lip, glad the helmet is hiding his expression. "But what if they need Iron Man and Captain America?"

"They've got War Machine and Bucky. Not exact copies, but close enough. Any other arguments?"

Tony shakes his head and climbs on the back of Steve's bike, placing his hands lightly on Steve's waist. "Let's ride."

Steve grins and starts the engine. "Let's ride," he says over the roar of the engine as he pulls out of the parking space and onto the road.

Tony moves closer, closing his eyes as he wraps his arms around Steve's waist. He's never been a big fan of motorcycles and although he trusts Steve, the only person he lets drive him around his Happy. He yelps into his helmet when Steve takes a corner, thankful he knows enough to move with Steve and the bike. He presses tightly against Steve's back, his heart beating rapidly. "Fuck, fuck. Why did I get on the back of the bike?"

"It would appear, Sir, that your thinking was along the lines of, if you can't ride Captain Rogers, then riding with him on his bike would be an acceptable substitute."

"Shut it, JARVIS," Tony mumbles, thankful the helmet hides his flushed cheeks. "How do I communicate with Steve?"

"I will patch you through, Sir." A moment later, Tony hears Steve's breathing in his helmet. "Steve?"

"Yeah, Tony?"

"When you say we're going on a road trip... Are we going the whole way on your bike?"

"I was planning on it." There's a chuckle, then, "Tony, I've got it all sorted out. Trust me, okay?"

"I do trust you. I trust you with my life," Tony says softly, almost hoping Steve didn't hear. But then he feels Steve's hand covering his and squeezing gently.

"I won't break your trust." Steve pats his hand, then speeds up a little. Tony just presses his face to the back of Steve's shoulder.

It's a few hours before Steve pulls off the road. Tony lifts his head from its place on Steve's shoulder and looks around, surprised to see a rather nice hotel in front of him. "Steve?"

"I figured we could stop for the night. Give your thighs a bit of a rest." Steve is smiling brightly as he pulls off his helmet. "I'll be right back."

Tony nods, not moving as Steve climbs off the bike. He watches Steve head into the building and then he leans forward, banging his head gently on the gas tank. "I'm an idiot and this is going to end very, very, very badly," he says to himself, lifting his head when he hears footsteps approaching. He smiles at Steve. "We ready?"

"Yeah. C'mon. I got us a room on the first floor. I figured you weren't up for stairs."

Tony nods and Steve gestures for him to hop off before he pushes the bike into a parking space. "Two rooms?" Tony raises an eyebrow when the back of Steve's neck and his ears go pink. "Steve?"

"They only had one room. I'm sorry about this Tony." Steve grabs their stuff and they head inside.

Tony stares at the room as Steve moves around, putting their stuff down. "Steve."

"Yes, Tony?"

"There's only one bed."

"I know. I'm sorry." Steve smiles sheepishly. "I can take the floor if you want."

"No, that's okay." Tony shakes his head. He's going to get to sleep with Steve Rogers. Okay, they won't be having sex, but he still gets to sleep with Steve. Tony will take what he can get at this point in his life. He smiles a little and shuts the door. He wobbles over to the bed, surprised by how sore his legs are as he flops down on the bed. "I'm gonna sleep for a little bit. Wake me up to get food."

"I'll order us some takeaway," Steve murmurs and Tony nods, closing his eyes. He's asleep before he can think about anything else.

_tbc_


	2. strange hotels

Steve drags his hand through his hair, letting out a breath as he watches Tony go from awake to asleep in seconds. He'd talked this road trip over with everyone-- all of the Avengers, Sam, Fury, JARVIS, Pepper, Happy and even Colonel Rhodes. They'd all agreed that Tony needed a break and that Steve was the only one who Tony would allow to kidnap him.

Rhodes and Pepper had tried to tell Steve that Tony has a crush on him, but Steve doesn't see it. His own crush is so obvious though that it's a miracle, to him at least, that Tony didn't immediately tell him to fuck off when Steve had basically done a snatch and grab on the man.

He turns away from the scene on the bed and picks up the phone, calling the front desk for recommendations on take out, then settles on Italian. He orders them some food, then strips out of his traveling clothes and heads into the bathroom in his boxer briefs. He starts the shower, then looks at himself in the mirror over the sink. "You can do this, Steven Rogers. You can take him on a road trip and not just attack him. He is your friend-- one of your best friends, in fact and you cannot ruin that just because you are dying to ruin him." He looks down when the mirror starts to fog up and he can only hope that his resolve is as strong as his will.

After he showers, he steps out of the bathroom, wearing just a towel to find Tony sitting up in bed, looking around blurrily. "Tony." Steve swallows hard and turns away, not noticing the looks Tony gives him as he digs in his bag for his underwear. "You're supposed to be sleeping."

"Heard someone at the door," Tony mumbles.

"Ah. Must be the food." Steve grabs his wallet and walks to the door, opening it. He hands over the money for the food and takes the bags, smiling a little when he hears Tony moan appreciatively at the smell of the food. He shuts the door on the gawping teenage delivery boy and sets the food on the table. "Here. Dig in. Pick what you want, 'cause I'll eat any of it."

Steve turns, glancing at Tony before he goes back to looking for his underwear and pajamas. He finally finds the right pocket and tugs his underwear on under the towel, unwrapping it and throwing it around his shoulders as he tugs on the sweatpants he always sleeps in. He spins back towards the food and stops in his tracks when he sees Tony staring at his chest. "Should I put on a shirt?" He bites his lip wondering if all the blemish free skin bothers Tony, seeing as he is scarred and has the reactor imbedded in his own chest.

"No." It comes out a little wobbly and Steve raises an eyebrow, grabbing a t-shirt and tugging it over his head. "You didn't have to do that, Cap."

"It's okay. I get you're not comfortable with... well, this." He gestures to his chest innocently and then sits down. He grabs a container and a fork and begins to eat. "So, since I know how much you value control, I had actually planned two routes. One goes straight from New York to California. The other... Well, I thought we could see some of the country... If you want. You don't have to agree at all. And I suppose there are two routes we could pick from to get to California...." Steve trails off, licking at his lips as he shovels more food in his mouth. 

"How crazy is the second route?" Tony asks, taking a bite of his garlic bread. "I mean, I'm all for spending more time with you, but..."

Steve blushes at that, thankful that Tony doesn't want to just run to the coast to get away from him. "Uhm. Pepper helped me plan some stuff. I was thinking we'd head to Florida first... I kind of want to see alligator wrestling and there's an old fort in Florida in St. Augustine and it's supposed to be really neat. Then I was thinking Chicago-- I mean, I was there back when I was the Senate's show pony back in the day, but I never got to see much of the actual sights and I imagine it's changed lots anyhow. Then I was thinking Texas? I'd love to see the Alamo. And Mr. Rushmore. And I want to go to the Grand Canyon and Colonel Rhodes was telling me about a place in Montana... Uhm, Glacier Park I think he said. Then I'd love to see Seattle and then I thought we could head down to Malibu on the Pacific Coast Highway?"

Tony stares at him blankly, then blinks twice before he pulls out his tablet and sends the hologram onto the wall. Steve bites his lip as he looks at the route semi-highlighted on the United States Map. "So, basically, Cap, you want to see nearly all 50 states by the time we reach Malibu?"

Steve shrugs, face flushing. "We don't have to. We don't have to do any of it. I can take us back to New York in the morning. I'm sorry I kidnapped you and wasted your time." His shoulders drop and he pushes away his food. "Excuse me. I'm gonna go work out a bit before I hit the sack."

He hears Tony sigh as he heads out, but there's nothing from Tony as the door clicks shut. Steve walks down to the gym and slips in, heading for the weight racks. He puts on the minimum he usually lifts and lays on the bench, staring absently at the bar above his head. A self-deprecating sigh escapes before he starts lifting the weights, doing several reps of bench presses before he lets the weight settle lightly against his chest. Of course this was a bad idea, he thinks to himself. No way does Tony want to spend that much time with him. Maybe he can convince Tony that they can fly to Malibu, that way he'd at least get to see Tony's house out there. He shakes his head and prepares himself to put the weight back on the bar when he feels the weight being lifted off.

"Oh my God, Steve! Are you okay? Holy fuck, Cap, you can't lift without a partner. That's like asking to be hurt!"

Steve blinks as Tony leans over him, then he smiles a little stupidly. "Worried about me, Tony?"

"Fuck you. Are you okay?" Tony ducks his head back and forth, leaving Steve a little dizzy.

"What? I'm fine." Steve sits up, only for Tony to push him back down and straddle him. Steve's breath catches in his throat and he can only stare at Tony.

"Don't sit up! You could have broken ribs or strained muscles or something, oh my God does no one ever take care of you!" Tony shakes his head, then nods. "Who's the president? What year is it? What day is it? How many fingers am I holding up? What country are you in?"

"Those are questions for a concussion Tony, of which I do not have." At Tony's glare, Steve rolls his eyes. "Obama, 2015, it's Thursday, June 23. You're not holding up any fingers because your hands are on my stomach and I'm in the U.S. Now, can I get up, please?" He bites his lip when Tony slides backwards a bit. If Tony moves much more, he won't have to actually move for Tony to find out just how up he is.

Tony slides off him and nods. "Move slowly. No broken Capsicles on my watch!"

Steve sits up slowly and looks at Tony. "I feel fine, okay?"

"Good. Now, we need to talk about this trip. Can we go to Florida and just see how I do on the bike? I'm all for the road trip thing but we're on a motorcycle and we're gonna be traveling eight thousand miles on your bike. That's kind of painful to think about. So maybe we can do the motorcycle to Florida, then you'll let me get us a nice SUV or something."

"Wait. You still want to... You still want to take the trip with me?"

"Well, yeah. I guess... I mean, I want to spend time with you, so yes. I'm just worried about the motorcycle aspect of it."

"Oh." Steve bites his lip, not wanting to admit that's part of the fun for him. "We could head back and dump the bike."

"No. We'll get like a truck or something so we can load the bike up. We can totally use it for short trips once we reach our destinations. Unless... I mean, I know you heal from that kind of stuff, but my muscles aren't made for riding motorcycles."

Steve ducks his head. "Oh. I guess I didn't think of that. We can stop in the next town or city or wherever and pick up a truck."

"We can wait until we get to Florida."

"No, I don't want you uncomfortable."

"Steve, please. I want to wait. Besides, Florida will only take a couple more days. We can stop in Jacksonville, get a pick up, then use the motorcycle to run around Florida and find some gator wrestling and other Florida things."

Steve raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm positive." Tony reaches over and pats his hand. "Come on. You didn't eat nearly enough and we don't have room on the bike for any extra stuff."

Steve nods and pushes to his feet, following Tony back to their room. Even if it won't be how he originally planned it, at least he'll still be able to spend time with Tony, just the two of them. And he'll get to see the country too. Maybe it won't be on his motorcycle, but that's probably a good idea. Too many days of riding around with Tony pressed that close and that intimately and Steve probably would've gone out of his mind. He nods to himself as they settle back down to eat. "Throw that map back up. We can make plans or change some of it if you want," Steve says, beginning to eat again.

Tony does as he's asked, smiling and talking about things they can maybe find to do in Florida. Steve grins and lets himself be pulled along in the wave that is Tony's enthusiasm. It's going to be a pretty good trip, he's sure of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many, many, many apologies if you were actually waiting for this second chapter. Bad real life crap, plus writer's block that has been kicking my ass, equals me not getting chapters out. Sorry. I will try to be better.


	3. on to florida

Tony stretches as he follows Steve out to the motorcycle the next morning. They'd actually gone to bed at a normal time-- something Tony knows he personally hasn't done since he was probably nine or ten-- and he'd actually gotten enough sleep to be awake without ten cups of coffee. "Are we going to grab some food first, Cap?"

Steve turns and tosses his helmet at him before he loads their bags into the side saddles. "Yeah. We have to stop for gas, and there's a Denny's next to the station. If that's okay?"

"Grease is good." Tony grins and tugs the helmet on, climbing behind Steve. He grips Steve's hips and smiles to himself. He'd been freaking out the night before when Steve walked out of the room, but they'd settled it kind of easily. He probably should've let Steve ride the motorcycle further than Florida, but in no way did Tony want to continue on that long of a trip. Nearly three thousand miles on the back of a motorcycle would've killed him, if they'd headed on the straight across trip. As it was, Steve's all over the country trip was going to be close to eighty five hundred miles. No way could his ass take that much punishment.

Tony sighs a little, smiling as Steve pulls up to the gas station. He takes off his helmet and hands Steve his platinum credit card. "Since you kidnapped me, I should make you pay."

Steve chuckles and pulls out another credit card, showing Tony the black card. Tony looks closer and rolls his eyes. It's his company credit card that he'd given to Pepper years before. "I see. I'm paying for my own kidnapping."

Steve smiles, ducking his head a little. "Well, Pepper did encourage me to kidnap you, so, she thought she should help pay for it."

"Except that's my personal company credit card, so technically, _I'm_ paying for my own kidnapping." Tony pats Steve's cheek. "You're lucky you're so cute, Rogers. I'm going to grab us a table over at Denny's. Coffee, tea, juice?"

"Yes, please." Steve grins. "Coffee and orange juice."

"Done." Tony walks into the Denny's, his helmet under his arm. He smiles at the waitress that comes up to him. "Hi, can I get a table for two please? My partner is filling up our bike right now but he'll be here in a minute."

"You got it, Mister." She leads him to a booth and sets two menus down. He picks up one of the menus.

"Can I get two cups of coffee and a glass of orange juice, please?" She nods and heads off and Tony starts perusing the breakfast menu. He makes a face at most of the choices, then sets the menu aside as Steve sits across from him. "I do not know what the hell to get."

"Well, you know you don't have to just get breakfast. You can order anything." Steve grins. "What do you usually like to eat?"

"Pancakes. Or waffles."

"Well, there's a waffle slam. Or there's a bunch of different pancake options."

"Yeah, but which ones do I get?"

Steve snorts and shakes his head, smiling up at the waitress when she drops off their drinks. "We're going to need a few more minutes, ma'am."

She blushes a little and nods and Tony is left staring incredulously as she walks off with a spring in her step. "You're incredible. Which would you have?"

"Hmmm. Oh, I like blueberry pancakes, but the cinnamon ones sound kind of good too."

"I'll have both them."

Steve raises an eyebrow. "That's an option too. I think I'll just kind of put together my own breakfast." The waitress returns and Steve smiles up at her. "I will have two biscuits with gravy, an order of Everything Hashbrowns and extra gravy on the side."

Tony grins as she stares wide eyed at Steve. "And I'll have the Cinnamon Pancake Breakfast, no eggs, sausage and the Blueberry Pancake Breakfast, again, no eggs and bacon, please."

The waitress looks from one to the other, then back. "Are y'all sure? That's a lot of food to consume."

"We'll be okay," Steve replies smiling wider.

"If you're sure."

Steve and Tony both nod and she heads off to put their orders in. Steve settles back, sipping at his coffee. "So, I was thinking we could probably make it to Raleigh before we need to stop for food. We'll definitely stop to rest every now and then, but it's about five hundred miles before we hit Raleigh."

"As long as we stop to walk around once in a while, yeah. Sounds like a plan. Which is fitting." Tony smirks. "You are after all, the Star Spangled--mmph." Tony is cut off by Steve's hand clapping across his mouth.

"Don't call me that please. We're friends, Tony. You can call me Cap and Capsicle and a hundred other things, but please do not remind me of being that dancing monkey puppet."

Tony peels Steve's hand off his mouth and nods. "Sorry. Didn't realize it was that sensitive a subject. I've called you Spangles before."

Steve lets out a sigh and rubs his hand over the back of his neck. "I told you, anything but that fucking song. Spangles is fine. I don't care when you call me that-- it's not my favourite, but I can take it."

"You swore. You said fucking. Holy shit, I've corrupted Captain America," Tony whispers.

Steve chuckles a little at that. "I do swear, Tony. Not often, but I do swear. I was military. We swore a lot back in the day."

"I know, but you don't swear around us. It's weird to hear you swear." Tony grins. "You got it though Cap. No more calling you that."

"Thank you." Steve licks his lips and looks around the room. "So."

"A needle pulling thread," Tony says, one eyebrow cocked.

Steve snorts, looking back at Tony with a grin. "Really? I have seen that now, you know."

"I know. I wanted to make sure."

"You're ridiculous."

"And yet, you still kidnapped me and are holding me hostage." Tony reaches across the table, patting Steve's hand.

Steve grins. "Apparently, I just really like ridiculous people."

Tony opens his mouth to speak, then falls silent as the waitress sets their food on the table. His eyes widen when he sees all of the food on his plate and he looks at Steve. "Uhm."

"Whatever you don't eat, I will." Steve smiles at him and starts in on his food. Tony watches him eat for a moment before he starts in on his own plates.

After they eat, Steve heads up to the front to pay as Tony finishes off his coffee. He watches Steve and tries to remember that they are only friends and that Steve is only doing this because everyone convinced him to. And okay, yeah, he wants to see the country to see how it changed probably. Tony licks his lips. He's got to stop deluding himself. In no way is he Steve Rogers' type. Steve's probably not even into men. 

Pushing to his feet, Tony heads to the bathroom. He walks back out and to the bike. Tugging his helmet on, he sits on the back, waiting for Steve to join him. Steve climbs on the bike in front of him and smiles over his shoulder. "Ready?"

"Always." Tony places his hands on Steve's hips as Steve starts the bike. Once they're on the road, Tony moves closer, wrapping his arms around Steve's waist.

It's a couple hundred miles before Steve is pulling off the road. They climb off the bike at the gas station almost in unison, stretching and smiling at each other. Tony heads into the gas station, finding the bathroom. Then he picks up enough food for them to eat, heading out to convince Steve to find a local park so they can have a picnic.

They find a nice little park, complete with a duck pond, a few miles from the gas station. Steve sits down on the ground after pulling over a picnic table for Tony to sit on. Tony smiles down at Steve and hands him a sandwich and a bag of chips. Steve grins at him. "Thank you."

"Of course. I thought it'd be nice for both of us to be able to sit somewhere not on the bike to eat. And since we can't really do drive through anyhow..." Tony shrugs and takes a bite out of his sandwich. "Do you want water or pop? I got a couple of both."

"Water for now, please."

Tony hands one of the water bottles over and leans back, staring up at the sky. "It's beautiful out. Even if I'm not a hundred percent about the riding a motorcycle part of this trip, I am happy you brought me along."

Steve smiles. "Good. I guess I should've asked you about it, instead of talking it over with everyone else."

"No, definitely better this way. I would've found a way out of it otherwise." Tony grins at him. "So, why me, Steve?"

He shrugs and looks down at his food. "I've seen how... Worked up you've been lately. With everything that has happened. You've been stressed out and really tired. I... I thought you needed a break and I know I need one. After everything that happened, I figured you and me going on a trip and getting to know each other better would be a good thing."

Tony bites his lip, trying not to let the little bubble of hope that's welling up in his heart get the best of him or let it grow any bigger. "That is a good thing." He smiles and meets Steve's gaze. "Us getting to know each other, too."

Steve nods and smiles. "I'm glad you agree."

Tony gets to his feet. "You about done? I'm kind of anxious now to get to Florida, get a good night's rest and then get on with the fun. You do realize just how much there is to do in Florida, right?"

"Of course. But like I said, alligator wrestling and that fort in St. Augustine are what I really want to see."

"Well, we can always go to Disney or SeaWorld or anything else you want to do. And we can check out anything you want, really. Since we're going to be there anyhow." Tony licks his lips. "We should go."

Steve gets to his feet and finishes off his water. "Let's roll." He helps Tony clean up their garbage and he leads the way to the bike. Soon enough they're back on the road, already having planned not stopping until they reach Florida.

It takes them at minimum eight hours and they're both tired and dusty and in need of a shower when they get there. Steve pulls into Jacksonville Florida and it's about eight at night when he finally pulls into a gas station. As he gasses up, Tony speaks with JARVIS, looking for and finding a five-star place for them to stay. After discarding the idea of several top notch hotels, JARVIS finally hits on one that would be perfect, in Tony's opinion. It's a little eight room inn, called Centennial House and Tony has JARVIS send directions to Steve's helmet and has JARVIS book them the most appropriate room, in his opinion.

Steve finishes filling the gas tank and turns to Tony. "So, did you and JARVIS find us a place to stay?"

Tony lifts the visor on his helmet. "Yeah. It's a little place in St. Augustine, actually. Only eight rooms, so it'll be nice. JARVIS has booked us a room, and sent you the directions, so, let's get going so we can get showers and get to bed. We have things to do tomorrow." Tony smiles and flips the visor back down.

Steve climbs back on the bike and starts the drive. Tony leans into him a little and hopes that Steve likes the room he and JARVIS picked out for them. Tony will happily tell Steve that they have to share a room-- and coincidentally a bed-- because he hadn't slept that well in forever. There was security in having Steve next to him in the same bed that he'd yet to find anywhere else.

When they pull up to a little blue house, Steve takes off his helmet and looks over his shoulder at Tony. "This is the address JARVIS gave me. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Tony pauses, then takes off his helmet as well. "There's something I neglected to tell you."

"What?"

"I had JARVIS book us one room."

"Oh, well... That's okay." Steve smiles. "No problem."

"There's only one bed, Steve."

"Oh." Steve blushes and Tony smiles a little, loving how handsome Steve is when he's looking so shy.

"I'm not asking for anything or anything, but I slept really good when I slept next to you. Better than I have in years, to be honest. So I thought maybe... If you didn't mind..."

Steve nods, placing his hand on Tony's knee. "If it will help you, we can share. I don't mind at all."

Tony lets out a quiet sigh of relief and pats Steve's hand. "Thanks. Let's go in. Our room is called the Gentleman's Quarters. I thought it kind of fitting, giving who you are."

Steve chuckles and leads the way inside, letting Tony check them in. He carries their bags to their room and just stares around the room, startled. "Wow, Tony. This is beautiful."

"Yeah, you are." Tony mumbles it, then smiles when Steve looks at him questioningly. "I said it is. Come on. Let's go see if there's somewhere nearby we can grab some food."

"Sounds good. Should we shower before or after food?"

"Uhm," Tony stutters, ducking his head. "Maybe before? You can shower first."

Steve smiles and takes out some clean clothes, ducking into the bathroom to shower. "Holy cow, Tony. This bathroom is ridiculous."

Tony steps in, eyes widening at the size of the whirlpool tub and the separate glass enclosed shower. "Wow. Even I didn't know it was going to be this nice."

"We could both fit in the tub together. Ya know, if you were like that." Steve blushes, ducking his head.

Tony raises an eyebrow, trying not to envision just that. He smiles and shakes his head. "We could both fit. If we were together."

Steve nods. "Yeah. That's what I meant." He blushes harder. "Well, I should shower. Ask JARVIS if he'll find us a place to eat. I don't care what kind of food it is, as long as it's edible."

"I care, but JARVIS and I will figure something out. Maybe we can get some takeaway."

"Whatever you prefer," Steve says, starting to strip out of his clothes. Tony watches him for a second before he goes back out to the bedroom and picks up his tablet, pulling JARVIS up.

"J, we need to get you hooked into the room for our trip. If you're okay with that. I guess I'm kind of..."

"Lost without me, sir. I understand completely and please, allow me full access to the room."

"You got it, J." Tony chuckles as he sets JARVIS up in the house. He walks over and knocks gently on the door. "Steve, I just want to warn you, I'm setting JARVIS up in the main room. Don't be surprised when he answers you."

"All the stuff you need is in one of the bags. Pepper packed what you'd need with Bruce's help."

"Thanks." Tony smiles, not sure why he's so surprised at Steve and Pepper's thoughtfulness. He finds the right bag and gets JARVIS set up. "Feel better, J?"

"Indeed, sir. Now, to assist you and Captain Rogers in the pursuit of food... There is a pizza delivery place nearby that has excellent ratings and is not a national chain. That is your best course of action and if I may sir, I know both yours and Captain Rogers' usual orders."

"Get it done, J. Good to have you back."

"It is good to be back, sir."

Tony chuckles and looks over when the door to the bathroom opens. He licks his lips upon seeing Steve standing there in just sweatpants and a t-shirt, his hair still damp. "JARVIS is ordering us pizza from some local place. You'll pay when it gets here?"

"Sirs, I have already given the credit card that Captain Rogers has. Payment is not a problem," JARVIS says. "Sir you may wish to shower before eating, however."

"Right. Okay. I'm gonna go shower. Steve, you collect the pizza when it arrives." Tony smiles and pats Steve's shoulder as he passes him.

Steve steps aside and heads for one of the chairs in the room as JARVIS speaks to him. Tony rolls his eyes a little and strips after shutting the door behind himself. He climbs in the still steamy shower and turns it back on, sighing happily. It smells like Steve's body wash and shampoo and Tony, on a whim, decides to just wash with Steve's soap. His own isn't in the shower, so he'll use that as his excuse.

After he's done, he inhales the scent of Steve's wash on his body and he glares down at his half-hard erection. "Betrayer," he mutters, tugging on a clean pair of underwear before pulling on some sweat pants. He grabs his t-shirt and steps back into the room, smiling over at Steve who is watching a TV show on his tablet. "Good show?"

"One Clint told me about. Firefly?"

"Ah, yes. A Whedon classic. There's a movie that follows it and a handful of graphic novels as well. Want JARVIS to play it on the TV so you can see it better?"

"If you don't mind. You've seen it before?"

"Of course, but I'm always happy to watch it again." Tony sits down in the second chair and watches as the show starts playing on the television. He glances over at Steve who is enamoured already. Then he jumps a little when there's a knock on the door. "Must be the pizza. J, pause the TV." He tugs on his shirt and gets to his feet. He takes the pizza with a thank you and hands the delivery guy a tip before going back to Steve. "Here we go. J, restart the show." Tony opens the pizza and holds it out to Steve who takes a couple slices. Tony takes a couple slices of his own and sets the pizza down on the table between them, eating a few bites.

After they finish watching a couple of episodes, they put the pizza boxes in the garbage and settle down on the bed. Tony looks over at Steve and smiles. "You're okay with this? You and me, sharing a bed?"

"I'm okay with this." Steve reaches over and takes Tony's hand. "I want to help you if I can, Tony," he adds. "Even if you just need to use me as a pillow."

Tony nods and scoots closer, turning on his side and resting his head on Steve's shoulder. He closes his eyes and it doesn't take long for him to fall asleep, cocooned in Steve's warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks to wait, sorry. Hope you enjoyed the fic.


	4. everglades here we come

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are no words to describe how sorry i am to have made you wait for this. thank you for reading. enjoy.
> 
> and hopefully, I will not make you wait a year and change for the next chapter.

Steve wakes up the next morning, inhaling the scent of Tony mixed with his body wash and shampoo. He licks his lips and leans closer to Tony. "I wish," he mumbles, pressing his lips to Tony's hair. "I wish we could be..." He sighs and pulls back, untangling himself from Tony's limbs. He looks around the room, then back at Tony. "Tony? Hey, Tone, it's time to wake up."

"Mmmrgg. Whatimzzit?"

Steve smiles. "It's eight in the morning, Tony. Come on, I want to go get some breakfast then head out to see a few things."

Tony rolls onto his back and scowls. "Too early."

There's a cleared throat then JARVIS speaks up. "Captain Rogers, if I may."

"Go for it."

"Sir, if you get up now, there will be coffee delivered in a few moments."

Tony groans and rolls out of bed, stumbling into the bathroom. Steve fights back a chuckle. "Thanks, JARVIS."

"You are quite welcome, Captain."

Steve smiles and drops to the ground, doing his normal set of push-ups, then switching into sit ups. By the time he’s halfway through his sit up routine, Tony’s walking back into the room. He can feel Tony staring at him as he finishes up. Climbing to his feet, he raises an eyebrow at Tony. “You okay?”

“Need coffee and food.”

Steve opens his mouth to reply but is cut off by a knock on the door. He smiles and goes to the door, taking their coffee and the bag of pastries. He turns, a little surprised when Tony is right there, taking both cups of coffee and heading to the table. He’s already sipping at one of the cups and Steve shakes his head, following behind. He opens the bag and pulls out a sesame bagel and an everything bagel. He then pulls out the little cups of cream cheese and the little cans of lox and he smiles. “Thanks, JARVIS. You thought of everything.”

“I do try, Captain. Sir, the second cup is for Captain Rogers.”

“Mine,” Tony mumbles, sipping at the coffee. He reaches out and takes the everything bagel and one of the cream cheese cups.

Steve chuckles and reaches over, grabbing the second cup of coffee and handing Tony a knife. “You can have whatever I don’t drink,” he says when Tony scowls at him. “You have to share, Tony.”

“No. My coffee. My AI ordered it, therefore, it is mine,” Tony says, frowning. 

“Sir, I did order the second cup for Captain Rogers, not for you.”

“My coffee!” Tony grumbles as he slathers the cream cheese on his bagel and takes a bite. “Mine.”

Steve grins and fixes his bagel up, then takes a few sips of the coffee. He eats the bagel in only a few bites and drinks a few more sips before he pushes the cup towards Tony. “There. You finish it off. I’m going to go wash my face and brush my teeth.”

Tony smiles at him. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Steve murmurs, heading into the bathroom.

Tony finishes off his food and coffee, getting to his feet as Steve comes out of the bathroom. “Done?” 

“Yeah. I was thinking we could go down to Everglades Holiday Park to watch some alligator wrestling.”

“Sure. Let me brush my teeth and finish getting dressed.”

Steve nods. “First we should go see if we can find a truck that’ll be able to hold the bike on the back. I don’t want to leave the bike. It’s the one you built for me.” 

Tony grins at him and nods. “J, find us a good dealership that sells large trucks, please.”

“Done sir. The information will be sent to yours and Captain Rogers’ helmets, as well as directions to Everglades Holiday Park where they have alligator wrestling as well as airboat tours through the swamps. Enjoy yourselves and feel free to contact me through your helmets.” 

Tony looks over at Steve and grins. “Let’s go.”

Their first stop is a Dodge dealership where Tony points to the trucks and Steve drives over that way. When a salesman approaches, Tony just shakes his head. “We’ll call you over when we’re ready. Right now we’re just looking.”

The salesman frowns, but backs away. Steve notices him hovering a few rows over, but he focuses on following Tony around to look at the used and new trucks. “Steve, I’m thinking we go with either the Dodge or the Toyota. The Ford is nice, but it’s just at 8 feet for the bed of the truck. The Dodge is just over the 8 feet and the Toyota is just over. They all have basically the same engine power and the same sitting room. Well, unless we special ordered a truck, but that would take too long. So, colour wise, what are your thoughts? There’s two Dodge’s and two Toyota’s, plus the three Ford’s, which are all the size beds we need, ultimately.”

Steve blinks at him and shrugs. “Tony, I barely know how to drive. You are asking the wrong person.”

Tony chuckles and nods. “Okay. Think about colour. Blue, black, green or white?” 

“No red?” Steve smirks at him a little. “Blue I guess. White gets too dirty, same with black.”

Tony nods. “Blue it is. Which means, Dodge or Ford?” 

“Uhm. I don’t know. You decide. I truly know nothing about cars. I like motorcycles.”

Rolling his eyes, Tony turns to look at the two vehicles. He slips his phone out of his pocket, tapping a couple of buttons. “Dodge is the better brand, per this website. J, help us out here. Download specs of both vehicles so I can do a compare.” He turns and eyes the salesman. “You. Can you get the keys for these two trucks and pop the hood so I can see what’s underneath?” 

The salesman nods and jogs off and Tony begins looking over the spec sheets Jarvis had downloaded. “Hmm. They’re really, terribly similar. We’ll drive them both and see which feels better. And we’ll see if we can get them to let us load the bike into the back to make sure it fits okay.”

Steve nods, smiling a little at how Tony is acting. He’s never seen Tony get so excited about buying anything before, so it’s nice to see. The salesman returns about that time and pops the hood on both trucks, allowing Tony to check them both over. He turns to look at the salesman. “What’s your name?” 

“Scott, sir.” 

“Okay, Scott. We want to see how his Harley over there fits in the bed of the trucks. Would you let us do that?” 

“Of course. Anything you want,” Scott says, smiling at them. “I can get a couple of guys over to help us out.”

“I’ve got it,” Steve says, licking his lips. 

“But sir, that’s a Harley Fat Boy. It weighs almost 800 pounds.”

“Trust me, he’s got this one,” Tony says, smiling at Scott. “Go ahead, Steve.”

Steve pushes the bike towards the back of the two trucks, lifting it up and setting it on the tailgate of the Ford, letting Tony help him push it in. “It’s a pretty good fit,” he says, looking over at Tony. He lifts it up and carries it over to the Dodge, setting it inside. “Better fit. Guess we’ll have to see how they drive before we make our decision.” He picks up the bike and sets it back on the ground. “Got someplace I can park the bike?” he asks Scott. 

Scott is staring at him, mouth open and eyes wide as he points to the building where there’s a series of empty parking spaces. Steve pushes the bike over to the parking spots and settles the bike in, before he heads back over. Tony tosses him the keys and Steve frowns before tossing them back. “You drive. You know trucks and cars better than me.”

“You sure? This is your road trip.”

“I’m sure. Go for it, Tony.” Steve pulls himself into the passenger seat and glances over as Tony climbs behind the wheel. “Let’s try this thing out.”

Tony grins over at him and starts the engine. “Oh, yeah. I could make some improvements but it sounds good.” He pulls out of the parking space and onto the street, heading down the road. A short while later, he’s pulling back into the car lot, then they try the other truck before Tony makes his decision. “Okay, we’re going with the Dodge.” He looks at Scott. “Let’s talk price, Scott.” He and Scott head in while the maintenance guys take the truck to clean it up and Steve follows behind Tony and Scott. He sits off to the side, marveling at Tony’s ability to talk the seller down five thousand dollars, as well as giving them a kit to lock the bike into the back of the truck as well as a lock box for their bags. 

As they head back out to the parking lot, Steve looks at Tony, smiling. “You were incredible in there. You talked him down five thousand dollars and got all those extras?”

“It’s what I do. I convince people to give away things they don’t necessarily want to give away.” Tony smiles. “Let’s go load up the bike and take them both back to the hotel. Then we’ll take the bike to the ‘Glades.” 

“You got it.”

An hour later, they’re back on the bike, heading south to the Everglades. Steve pulls into the parking lot and pulls his helmet off, smiling up at the sky. “It’s beautiful here.” 

Tony watches him, smiling. “Yeah, it is.” 

Steve turns to look at him and beams. “Let me lock our helmets on the bike and we can head in.”

Tony nods, passing his helmet over. Steve locks the helmets onto the bike and holds his hand out without thinking about it. “Come on, Tone. Let’s go see some gators.” 

“You’re like an overgrown kid.” Tony takes Steve’s hand and they head up the walkway and through the gate. Steve gestures to an open spot along the fence and Tony pulls him over that way. Steve moves to stand so that he’s watching over Tony’s shoulder as the gator wrestlers step into the gator pit.

“Have I thanked you for this?” Steve murmurs into Tony’s ear. “Coming with me. Letting me drag you to the swamps?” 

“You’ve thanked me, but there’s no need, Steve. It’s my pleasure.” Tony shivers a little and Steve places his hands on Tony’s shoulders. Tony leans back against him, focusing on the stunts going on in the pit before them. He jolts a little when Steve pulls him backwards a bit. “What?” 

“Couple of kids want to see,” Steve says. Tony nods, smiling down at the children-- probably about eight or nine-- and then looks back at the wrestling going on.

A little while later, they head down one of the boat decks towards the airboat. “Okay, we do what we do, but that was freaking brave. Dude put his head in a gator’s mouth,” Steve says, glancing down to where he and Tony are holding hands again.

Tony nods, swinging their joined hands a little. “I’m impressed. And since they basically work on donations, I may have possibly put a bunch of cash into their donation box.”

“How much?” Steve smiles at him, knowing Tony tends to be overly generous. 

“Uh... I think I had like... uhm...”

“Tony?” 

“Okay. I had like ten hundreds in my wallet. My wallet is now empty.” 

“You gave them a thousand dollars?” 

“Well, what did you put in there? I know you had cash in your wallet.” 

“It’s empty,” Steve says, cheeks flushing. “I had like five hundreds.” 

Tony snorts. “Well... okay, we’re both a little crazy. But... I’m already planning on sending them more.”

“So was I.”

Laughing, Tony pulls Steve onto the airboat and they take their seats. Steve slides his arm around Tony’s back. “Are you excited to be out in the swamp?” 

“Of course. This was a good idea,” Tony says, leaning against Steve.

“Yeah, it really was.” 

A few hours later, they’re settling into their hotel room again. “So, do you wanna go to Disney?” Tony asks, fluffing the pillows behind his back.

“I don’t know. I mean, I do, but Disney is expensive, isn’t it?” 

“Steve, you’re with a billionaire. Money is no object. You want to spend a year at Disney? Guess who can afford that?” 

Steve laughs a little as he changes into his pajama bottoms. “I would like to go to Disney. And maybe Sea World.”

“We’ll go to all the places. We’ve got... how long?” 

“As long as you want. Pepper said to tell you that once we were out here, if you wanted to take a month or two, to go for it. She’ll handle Stark Industries and Natasha’s taking care of the Avengers.” Steve licks his lips. “So, if you wanna take a few days in each place, we absolutely can.”

“I’d actually really enjoy that. This trip was supposed to be about you too, though.” 

“You letting me spoil you? That makes it about me, Steve. I love to spoil the people I care about.” Tony shifts when Steve climbs under the covers and he curls up against Steve. He stiffens and begins to pull away when he realized what he did, but Steve slides an arm around him and pulls him close. “You don’t have-“

“I know I don’t have to. I want to, Tony. You sleep better this way and it turns out, so do I.” Steve strokes his hand up and down Tony’s side. “Now, close your eyes ‘cause we’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.” 

Tony snorts a little and snuggles a little closer. “Thanks, Steve.” 

“You’re welcome, Tony.”


	5. Disney and Other Places

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't make you wait as long!
> 
> Enjoy!

The next morning, Steve is up and doing his usual morning routine earlier than usual. He’s just in the middle of his second round of push ups when Tony groans and sits up. “Time?” he asks, glancing around the room, eyes half open. 

Steve smiles a little. “Six in the morning. Go back to sleep, Tony.” 

“I’m awake,” Tony mumbles, rolling out of bed. He stretches and yawns, looking over at Steve. “Fuck. You are so beautiful.” 

Steve flushes and licks his lips. “You’re not even awake.” 

“You don’t even get it, Steve. I want you so bad...”

“Sir, you should go shower,” JARVIS interrupts. “I’m ordering coffee and croissants for you and the Captain.” 

“Thanks, J,” Tony mumbles, heading for the bathroom.

Steve waits until the door shuts behind Tony before he looks up at the ceiling. “JARVIS, was he... I don’t want you to betray him or not follow any protocols he has set in place, but I need to know. Was he serious?”

“You’ll have to ask Sir that, Captain. I’m not at liberty to divulge that information.” 

Steve nods, thinking over what Tony had said. He can’t believe he could possibly get to have what he’s wanted for so long. He smiles to himself as he goes back to his push ups. He’ll just have to take the next however long they’re on the road to figure it out.

When Tony comes out and refuses to look at Steve, Steve smiles a little. “I’m gonna go shower, Tony. I’ll be out in a couple of minutes.” He heads into the bathroom and showers quickly, tugging on his jeans as soon as he’s dry. He throws a towel around his shoulders and steps back into the main room. “Forgot a shirt,” he says watching Tony’s facial expressions as soon as he sees Tony is watching him. “Breakfast here yet?” 

“Not yet,” Tony says, voice sounding strangled.

Steve grabs one end of the towel, eyes still locked on Tony as he lifts the towel, purposefully flexing his biceps as he rubs the towel through his hair. “So, we’re going to Disney today, yeah?” 

Tony nods, licking his lips. Steve can’t help but notice that Tony’s gaze is locked on his arms. “When do we want to go?” 

“Soon?” Tony asks. 

“Yeah. After breakfast?” 

“Perfect,” Tony says, finally turning away. Steve grins. He had never noticed that Tony looked at him that way. Now that he knows, he’ll have to figure out if it’s just Tony being turned on by his body or if Tony is interested in more. Because as much as Steve wants to be with Tony physically, he also wants everything else he can get from him. He wants an emotional connection, almost more than he wants the physical.

He smirks to himself as he finishes drying his hair and grabs one of his undershirts. Tony makes a noise behind him and Steve has to think on that noise for a moment before he realizes that it was a whimper. Steve just keeps smiling as he turns around. “JARVIS, what’s the weather going to be like today?” 

“It is predicted to be a balmy 80 degrees, full sun for most of the day. I suggest hats and sunglasses, and that you not wear too many layers, Captain. Also, I have taken the liberty to have some sunscreen delivered along with your breakfast this morning. Sir does not tend to burn in the sun, but you are much fairer skinned than he.” 

“Thanks, JARVIS. But I don’t really burn anymore. I don’t think I can even get an actual tan.”

Tony clears his throat. “I’ll use some of the sunscreen. I have no desire to get skin cancer. And I know you can’t get cancer, Steve, but you should still put the stuff on. You might recover faster from a burn, but you can still get burned.” 

“You’re right, Tony. Thanks for watching out for me.” Steve beams at him as he sits down across from Tony. “So, are we staying at Disneyworld the whole day?” 

“I thought we could do that, yeah. Unless you’d rather go do other stuff too.” 

“No. No, Disney sounds like a blast.” Steve fidgets a little. “I’m a little anxious to get going, I guess.” 

“You’re acting more like me than I am,” Tony says, smiling. 

“Oh hush,” Steve replies, smiling back. “Tony, can I ask you something?” 

“Of course.” There’s a knock on the door. “After breakfast.” He gets up and gathers their breakfast, coming back in and handing Steve one of the cups of coffee and one of the bags of food. “Oooh. JARVIS, you spoil us. He got us pancakes, Steve.” 

“Thank you, JARVIS.” Steve opens his bag and pulls out his breakfast. He falls silent as he begins to eat. He’ll ask Tony at another point about his feelings. Right now, he wants his food more than he wants anything else. 

Almost three hours later, Steve is pulling into a parking spot near the entrance and he glances back at Tony as Tony climbs off the bike. “Thanks for letting me drive us here.” 

“I’m actually enjoying the motorcycle,” Tony says. “Besides, it’s probably cheaper for these short trips than driving a car or the truck. And hey, it’s only been open for about an hour, so we don’t have to wait forever in line to get in.” 

Steve grins and locks their helmets up before he and Tony head inside. 

Once inside the park, Steve looks at Tony and raises his eyebrows. “What first?” 

“Well, since we got the VIP passes, we can ride the rides first, and after that, we can head over to one of the other parks?” 

“You really want to go on the rides with me?”

“Yeah. It sounds like fun,” Tony says. “Come on. We have to ride Space Mountain.”

“Is that the best ride?” 

“Yep.” Tony grins and they head around the park to Space Mountain.

After they ride several of the rides, Steve smiles at the slightly green tinge to Tony’s face. “Is it the screaming kids, the motion of the rides or something else?” 

“I think the rides. And I’m pretty sure I need food.” Tony takes Steve’s hand and smiles. “Let’s go find something to eat, then we can walk around the park or maybe hit one of the other parks?” 

“We can go to one of the other parks. I would love to see the Animal Kingdom. And we have to go to Epcot.”

“You got it. And then we can go to Busch Gardens in Tampa. Maybe go to Sea World too.” 

“I’d like that,” Steve says softly, swinging their joined hands. “I appreciate you doing all this for me, Tony. I mean, really. It means so much to me to have you with me.” 

“It’s my pleasure. Besides, you were right. I needed a vacation and a road trip with just the two of us is the perfect vacation.” Tony looks down at their hands and smiles. “Let’s get you some food. Then we’ll go check out Epcot. Maybe we’ll hit the other two parks tomorrow.”

“Oh. Can we eat at Epcot? They’ve got all those different restaurants, right? We can try stuff at all of them.” 

Tony laughs. “You’re like a big kid. You got it. Let’s head over to Epcot.” 

“Thanks.” Steve smiles and they head for the other park.

They spend the next few days in Florida exploring all of the amusement parks and wildlife places. On what they plan to be their last full day there, Tony looks at Steve when they get up and raises an eyebrow. “Well? What are our plans for today? Universal, go back to Sea World? Back to the Everglades?” 

“I was thinking we could go see the fortress? And maybe just walk around St. Augustine? Have a little bit more of a relaxing day.” 

“I like that idea. Not sure about all that walking, but yeah. We can do that.”

They finish their breakfast and head out, holding hands as they walk along the streets. It doesn’t take long to get to the Castillo de San Marcos and Steve’s eyes light up as Tony pays the entrance fee and they head inside. Tony chuckles and begins taking pictures of Steve as he explores the fortress. He’s never seen a grown man so enamored with an old building. 

“Tony, look.” Steve points to the moat and Tony peers down into it, making a face when he realizes there’s an alligator swimming in the moat. “They really are everywhere in Florida.” 

Tony chuckles. “Apparently. Wanna go wrestle it?”

“Uh. No. Pretty sure I won’t grow back lost limbs or appendages.” Steve grins at Tony. “Are you enjoying yourself?” 

“Yeah. Florida has been a lot of fun. But if you want to go to the Alligator Farm, we had better get going.”

“What about the Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum?” 

“I think we’re going to have to skip it this time around. Maybe some other time we can make like a two week vacation just to Florida?” 

Steve smiles brightly and hugs Tony. “That sounds fantastic. Thank you, Tony.” 

“Don’t you know, yet, Steve?”

“Know what?” 

“I’d do anything for you.” Tony smiles and pats Steve’s back, since Steve still hasn’t let go from the hug.

Steve pulls back, smiling almost shyly. “Let’s get going to the Alligator farm. Then we can go grab dinner and get to bed so we can be up early and hit the road.” 

Tony nods, letting Steve pull him towards the exit of the fortress. It’s a quick trip to the Alligator Farm and after they’ve stopped at every exhibit and Steve has seen all the animals he wants to see, they head out to dinner. Tony sits across from Steve, licking his lips. “So, have you enjoyed Florida?” 

“Florida was a lot of fun. I’m really looking forward to the rest of our trip. That is, if you still want to go with me.” 

“After we bought that new truck? You bet your fine ass we’re continuing this trip. I’m really looking forward to it, now that I’m not going to be on the bike for the eight thousand mile trip.”

Steve laughs a little. “Yeah, I guess I didn’t really think about that part of it. But I like the truck. Plus, this way I don’t have to drive the whole way.”

“No, I get to drive most of the way,” Tony says, smiling at Steve. “But it’s okay. I like driving. And it’ll be fun to see how good the truck does on the highway.” 

Steve smiles at him. “Yeah, it’ll be interesting for sure,” he says as he finishes his food. “I can’t believe how tired I am.”

“Well, we did do a lot of walking and there was a lot of sun outside.” Tony reaches over and pokes Steve’s nose. “And your nose is sunburnt. It’s not fair that it’ll be gone in the morning.” 

Shrugging, Steve reaches up and rubs his nose. “Sucks, to be honest. Because sometimes I forget that I can still burn.”

“Well, the good news is you probably won’t have to worry about skin cancer.” 

Wrinkling his nose, Steve nods. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

“What? You’ve got a strange look on your face.” 

“Just thinking. Mostly that I’ve already outlived all of my family and friends once. I don’t want to repeat that.” 

Tony falls silent at that. He tries to think of something witty or intelligent to say, but the thought of Steve losing everyone he cares about, not once but twice, breaks his heart.

“I’m sorry, Tony. I didn’t mean to bring the mood down.” Steve frowns.

“It’s okay, Steve. I just... I hadn’t thought of it that way and I’m sorry. You’ve lost everything and you might just lose it twice. It’s not fair, but I don’t know how we could possibly fix it.”

“I guess part of me just wonders... In a hundred years, will me, Thor and Bruce be the only ones left? Because Bruce doesn’t age the same as he used to, right? Because of the Hulk.” 

“I don’t know. I just... I don’t know.”

Steve shrugs. “Well, whatever. This time, I intend to enjoy every moment I have with the people I care about.” He smiles at Tony. “And yes, you’re included in that.”

Tony flushes a little. “Good. We’ll definitely enjoy our trip together and get to know each other better.” 

“Good.” Steve flags down their waitress and asks for their check. “Wanna go get some ice cream and when we get back to our room, we can watch a movie and eat ice cream before bed?” 

Tony smiles and nods. “Yeah. I’d like that a lot.” 

Steve smiles and, after they pay their bill, head down the road to the local grocery store. Steve picks up a couple of pints of ice cream before they head back to their room. Steve changes into his pajamas and crawls onto the bed, waiting for Tony to join him. Once Tony settles in next to him, Steve hands over one of the pints of ice cream and a spoon and turns on the TV, asking Jarvis to play them a movie.

After they finish their ice cream, Tony curls up against Steve’s side. “I am tired. Too much walking and too much fresh air.” 

Steve chuckles and slides his arm around Tony’s shoulders. “Go to sleep,” he says as he sets the ice cream cartons on the night stand. “I’m going to sleep too.” 

Tony nods and closes his eyes, snuggling in close.


	6. On the Road Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not quite as long a wait as before. :-D

The next morning they were up early and on the road after a quick breakfast and several cups of coffee for Tony. Steve was watching the road as they pulled away from St. Augustine and he sighs before turning to face Tony. “I’m going to miss St. Augustine.” 

“So am I. Florida was beautiful. We’ll definitely have to go back some day. Maybe we can rent the whole building out and bring the rest of the team.” 

Steve smiles and nods. “They’d love it. And if we could have longer to stay there, then we could go see more.” 

“You just want to spend more time watching alligators.” 

“Well, they’re amazing creatures and some of them are as old as I am.” Steve laughs a little. “Yes, okay. I really want to go back and watch the alligators.” 

“We’ll do all that and more.” Tony turns onto the highway and sets the cruise control. “So, it should be about 15 hours, give or take traffic until we reach Chicago. Should we just do the whole thing in one pass?” 

“Yeah. I think that is definitely the best idea. When we’re in the less populated areas, I’ll drive if you ever feel like you need rest.”

“Well, we can cross that bridge when we come to it,” Tony says, chuckling. “I might just make do with caffeine and then crash when we get to Chicago.” 

Steve laughs and shakes his head. “Okay, okay. I get it. I am a horrible driver. You’re absolutely not wrong on that score.” 

Tony smiles over at him. “It’s okay. You can’t be good at everything, that just would not be fair to the rest of the male population of the world.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “Fine. Where are we going to say?” 

“I’m having JARVIS look for small bed and breakfast places. Like where we were in St. Augustine.”

“Good. I liked the feel of that place.” 

“Jarvis is searching the internet to find out which of the local B&B’s will work best for us.” 

“It doesn’t even have to be a bed and breakfast. It can just be a smaller hotel that’s nice,” Steve says, voice slightly hesitant.

“Well, Jarvis is checking all the best places and he’ll let us know the best choices.”

“Okay. So, is there anything you’d like to do in Chicago?” 

“Honestly, I just love the way you enjoy everything. I know there’s an amusement park north of Chicago and then there’s the aquarium, there’s a couple of zoos, there’s the Navy Pier, a museum, and a lot more to do.” Tony glances over at him. “So, really, it’s up to you.”

“How long do you want to stay in Chicago?” 

“How about five days in Chicago?” 

“That sounds good.” Steve smiles brightly. “That’ll give us plenty of time to do a lot of the stuff.”

“Okay, but... you’ll have to pick like five things. I don’t want to be running all over Chicago trying to fit everything in.” 

Steve frowns over at Tony. “I don’t want to pick.” 

“Oh my God, you’re like a two year old.” Tony laughs as he pulls Exit 296B. “We’re about to cross into Georgia.” 

Steve frowns at Tony some more. “Can we stay longer?” 

“Is this road trip going to last five years?” 

“No,” Steve says, pouting a little. “But...”

“A week. That’s all I’ll give you, _but_ if we do that, we cross one stop off the list.” 

“If I agree to cross off Texas and Mt. Rushmore, can we stay in Montana longer too?”

“Oh my God,” Tony says again, shaking his head. “I’ll give you a week in Chicago, two weeks in Montana, _if_ we skip Texas, Mt. Rushmore and the Grand Canyon. I do have things I have to do for Stark Industries, Steve.” 

Steve bites his lip, then nods. “I’ll agree, _if_ ,” he says, using the same emphasis Tony had, “you agree to camping. And that someday, we’ll do Texas, the Grand Canyon and Mt. Rushmore.” 

Tony sighs, nodding. “Sounds like a deal.” He glances at Steve as he says this. “It’s gonna be weird not having JARVIS on the camping trip though.” 

“We’ll survive.” Steve smiles. “Besides, we’ll have the truck with us. But we will have to go somewhere and get camping equipment.” 

“We’ll go someplace in Chicago, or along the route to get to Montana.” Tony shakes his head. “You wanna put some music on?” 

Steve nods and turns on the radio, searching through stations until he finds a classic rock station. He smiles a little at that. He’s not always a huge fan of the classic rock that Tony loves, but right now, he doesn’t mind. It’ll help him to stay awake, which he wants so that he can pay attention to Tony and the roads as they’re driving.

He stares out at the scenery, wrinkling his nose a little. There’s not a whole lot to look at out the window, so he settles in and turns to watch Tony, grabbing a sketchbook out of his backpack and a couple of pencils. “You mind if I use you as a subject?”

Tony blinks for a moment before he nods. “Yeah, if you really want to, yes.” 

“I want to,” Steve says, focusing fully on Tony. He begins sketching in light lines, capturing Tony’s general shape and size. After he’s got the basics down, he begins laying in heavier lines, adding the small details; the little lines at the corners of Tony’s eyes when he smiles, the way his lips curve up when he’s smiling or working on some computer issue, the way his beautiful brown eyes brighten up when the team is all together. Steve pauses in his drawing, realizing he knows Tony better than he thought he had. He’s watched him all along and never even noticed it.

He finishes the current sketch and starts a new one, remembering Tony work on one of the suits in his lab and he’d let Steve hang out. Steve had played fetch with Dum-E and Butterfingers for a while until they’d stopped chasing the ball. Steve smiles at the memory. Dum-E and Butterfingers had gone to Tony to bug him, but Tony had just patted them both before he went back to work on the suit.

Steve sketches Dum-E and Butterfingers hanging around Tony, just waiting for his attention. Tony had been so focused, he’d only given the robots the smallest amounts, but even though they were only robots, Steve could tell how much they enjoyed every tiny bit of attention. Before he knows it, the scene is done and he smiles slightly. He flips the page and moves on to drawing just Dum-E, Butterfingers and You. You was always more reserved around Steve, while the other two constantly wanted his attention when he first came down to the workshop.

Steve smiles and keeps sketching, flipping to a new page every so often. When the truck pulls to a stop, he looks up, startled. “Where are we?” 

“About an hour from the Georgia-Tennessee border. Had to stop for gas and get some more caffeine.” Tony yawns. “You fill up the truck and I’ll head in to the bathroom.” 

Steve nods, setting his sketchbook back in his bag. He slides out of the truck and stretches his shoulders and neck, taking a deep breath. The weather is beautiful here, nearly as nice as it was in Florida and he revels in the sunshine for a moment before he walks around the truck and begins to fill it up. He grabs the squeegee from a nearby bucket and washes the windows before he pops the hood and checks the oil and other fluids. He glances up when he sees Tony coming out and he smiles, closing the hood. He goes and tops off the gas tank. By that time, Tony is standing next to the truck. “You need to pee?” 

“I should go. What’d you get for drinks?” 

“I just got an iced coffee. It’s hot enough that I need something to keep cool, but not hot enough to turn on the A/C.” 

“You didn’t get me anything?” 

“Shit. I’m sorry, Steve.” 

“It’s okay. Truck’s ready to go, if you wanna pull it closer to the station. I’ll just be a moment. Are you hungry?” 

“I kind of wasn’t, but I could eat a snack or two.” 

Steve chuckles. “You worry about pulling the truck up and I’ll grab us snacks and some stuff for me to drink.”

Tony nods and Steve heads into the gas station. He uses the bathroom, then goes through the snack aisle, picking up a few different things he knows he and Tony will both eat. After he gets snacks, he grabs a couple of sodas for Tony and a few waters and a Gatorade for himself. Then he rejoins Tony in the car. “So, will we get to Chicago tonight?” 

“Yeah. JARVIS looked, but couldn’t find anything that had any openings that was a B&B. But he booked us into a hotel on Lakeshore Drive, so we’ll at least be able to see the Lake.” 

Steve nods. “Sounds good to me. One room, right?” 

“Yeah. It’s supposedly big enough to fit four people, but I think there’s only one bed. J?” 

“There is a king sized bed, Sir. Plenty of room for you and the Captain to share.” 

“Good.” Tony glances over at Steve as he pulls out of the parking lot. “I think you should look up some stuff you want to do.” 

“There’s so much to decide from!” 

Tony chuckles. “Which is why you need to start looking at what you want to do.” 

“Fine. I’d rather draw.” 

“I know you would. I tell you what. You pick three things for us to do and you can draw until the next fill up.” 

“Good deal.” Steve nods and grabs his StarkPad, looking up the Chicago Tourist Board. He starts flicking through things and wrinkles his nose as he tries to decide. “Well, we definitely have to go to the Navy Pier. And the museum and at least one of the zoos. How long do we have in Chicago again?” 

Tony glances over at him and grins. “One week.” 

Steve frowns a little, licking his lips. “Damn. So... Seven things to do, right?” 

“Damn it, Rogers.” 

“What? I’m just asking.” 

“Fine. We can do a week and a half, so we can enjoy things.” 

Steve grins over at Tony. “Thank you. Okay. So, Navy Pier, for sure. The Aquarium, the zoos, the Field museum, and the Contemporary Art museum. And then the amusement park that’s north of Chicago.” Steve beams. “And the rest of the days we can just wander around Chicago, or if we like something enough, we can do a second day.” 

“Okay. When we get there, we’ll decide what order to do things in.”

“Thank you, Tony,” Steve says as he leans over, hugging Tony. “Now, can I get back to drawing?” 

“Yes, go back to drawing.” Tony shakes his head, smiling a little. “You’re like a two year old.” 

“Shut up. You’re mean,” Steve says, playing into the statement.

Tony laughs and focuses back on the road. Steve picks up his sketchbook and goes back to drawing as they drive down the road. 

Several hours and several stops later, Steve is climbing out of the truck, stretching and yawning. “How much further?” 

“About three hours, give or take Chicago traffic.” Tony steps out of the truck, stretching as well. “Let’s go ahead and grab some food. What do you say?” 

“Sounds like a good plan,” Steve replies. They head into the restaurant and get a table, ordering their food before Steve stretches again. “You okay to drive the last bit?” 

“Yeah. Just need some coffee in me and I’ll be just fine,” Tony says. He yawns and begins sipping at his coffee. “You doing okay? Need to run or exercise or anything?” 

“Nah. I can wait until we get to Chicago.” Steve smiles at him. “So, really. Are you doing okay?” 

“I am.” Tony smiles back. “It’s been nice, getting away, getting to see you enjoy so much of the country. Plus, I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt so rested and well fed.” He gestures at the plates their waitress brings them, piled with fries and huge hamburgers. “Holy crap, I’m going to have to work out with you from now on,” he adds. “I’m going to gain a thousand pounds if I don’t.” 

Steve chuckles. “You’d look good, even if you were overweight.” 

“No, I wouldn’t. I’m Tony Stark. I’m supposed to be well built, not fat.” 

“Tony, I highly doubt you’ll look fat. You’d just be a little soft. Nothing wrong with that.” 

“Says the man who’s built like a brick shithouse.” Tony rolls his eyes. “Look, I’m okay with not being perfectly cut like someone I know, but I don’t want to be fat.” 

“Fine. We can workout together. Once a day. I’ll be your trainer. _But_ you have to do as I say,” He adds. “Can you agree to that?” 

Tony raises an eyebrow. “Well, don’t expect me to keep up with you right away and you’ve got yourself a deal,” he says, nodding. “Now, eat your food. We’ve got a ways to go before Chicago and I want to get back on the road.” 

Steve chuckles and goes back to his food. It doesn’t take either of them long to finish their food and Steve makes his way to the counter to pay as Tony heads to the bathroom. He smiles to himself as he hands over the credit card and he goes into the bathroom. “I was thinking,” he says as he moves up beside Tony.

“Oh boy, we’re in trouble now.” 

“Very funny,” Steve says, shaking his head. “I’m serious. I have an idea. We should find somewhere in Chicago where they have a no kill shelter and adopt a puppy or two.” 

“You want to take puppies with us on the road? For at least three weeks?” 

“Well, yeah. We could cover the backseat of the truck with a bunch of pads or something...” Steve pouts, shrugging. “It was just an idea.”

“How about we look into it once we get to Chicago?” Tony sighs. “God, you’re... I’m such a sucker for you. It’s ridiculous.” 

Steve tilts his head, looking over at Tony. He can’t help from glancing down, taking note of Tony’s cock before he looks back up. “What do you mean?” 

“I... Never mind,” Tony says. “Just finish pissing and I’ll meet you at the truck. I’m going to grab us some drinks for the rest of the way.” 

“Okay.” Steve sighs, finishing his business before he goes to wash his hands. He heads out to the car, smiling a bit as he climbs in next to Tony. “So...”

“Maybe a few days before we leave Chicago, we can go to a no-kill shelter. Find a couple of animals. We’ll get a cage or something to put in the back seat.”

Steve brightens up and nods. “Perfect. Thank you, Tony.” 

“Anything for you, Steve,” Tony says with a sigh.

“Don’t sound sad, Tony. I’m sorry. Am I taking advantage of you?” 

“No. I just... I find it really hard to tell you no, but that’s my fault.” Tony smiles over at Steve. “We’re almost to Chicago.” 

“Great. I can’t wait.” Steve looks out the window, watching the scenery go by. He has to figure out a way to get Tony to tell him how he feels, because the more time they spend together, the more he’s realizing that he’s in love with Tony and he wants Tony to know that. It hits him then. He should be the first to make a move, that way Tony can’t doubt his feelings. He nods to himself. He’ll find a way to show and tell Tony while they’re in Chicago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10/1/2017 ETA: Ahhh, not an update. Sorry. Just editing a typo I found while re-reading so I could remember where I'd left things so I could hopefully, get the next chapter done.


End file.
